State officials have until August 10th to decide how to respond to an attempt to stop government-paid abortions in cases of rape or incest. Last month 41 Republican legislators who oppose abortion asked the Iowa Department of Human Services to rewrite its rules which currently allow tax dollars to pay for some abortions. Abortions are covered under Medicaid if the woman’s the victim of rape or incest, if her life is endangered by the pregnancy, or if a fetal abnormality leads doctors to conclude the baby would not survive past birth. This week several groups have filed a response. Jill June is president and C-E-O of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. “This would re-victimize a woman who’s already been through the trauma of a violent crime or who’s facing a pregnancy that’s incompatible with life of the fetus and to withhold health care from her in these circumstances really is heartless,” June says.

This spring a group of Republican lawmakers made a similar attempt to prevent Medicaid patients who’re victims of rape or incest from getting a state-paid abortion. Democrats who prevailed said such a move would jeopardize federal reimbursement to the state and June raises the same argument now.  “Iowa law clearly provides that women who are facing a pregnancy as the result of rape or incest or gross fetal anomaly have access to health care, paid by the Medicaid program,” June says, “so this really doesn’t make sense because the law in Iowa and the federal law all agree that this is the right thing to do.” Critics on the other side argue cases of rape or incest aren’t the fault of the fetus, but the fetus gets the death penalty if the mother opts for an abortion.

The American Civil Liberties Union argues opponents of abortion are asking the Iowa Department of Human services to make a “procedural run-around that violates Iowa law” about how agencies can make rules. June agrees. “We don’t understand what basis they are making this complaint,” June says. Officials in the Department of Human Services can either dismiss the petition filed by Republican legislators, or start drafting emergency rules to implement the policy abortion opponents seek.

(Radio Iowa)

The U-S Department of Education has granted Iowa’s request for a one-year freeze on the standards imposed by the No Child Left Behind. The state Education Department requested the one-year freeze on the federal regulations last week after failing to gain a permanent waiver of the rules. A spokeswoman for the department, Staci Hupp, says this move is just one step in a larger battle over education in the state.  “This is a temporary measure while we continue to seek permanent relief from No Child Left Behind’s unrealistic accountability measures,” Hupp says. If the freeze had not been granted, 87- percent of all students in third through eighth and 11th grade would have been expected to have meet grade-level standards in reading and math. The target for most Iowa schools will stay around 80-percent of students performing at grade level. Education Department director Jason Glass and Governor Terry Branstad blamed the legislature for failing to pass an educator evaluation system as the reason the state did not received a permanent waiver from the federal standards. The legislature is studying the evaluation system to make a recommendation for the next session.

Hupp says it’s good news to get more time to work on the issue. “Although it’s a temporary measure that doesn’t really address the root of the problem. Director Glass believes that as a nation significant changes to the No Child Left Behind law must become a priority,” Hupp says. The Department of Education is in the process of yearly progress reports, and officials say they do not yet know how many schools the freeze will affect. Federal officials indicated Iowa would not get another freeze year if it fails to come up with the changes required for a permanent waiver.

(Radio Iowa)

A new traffic signal is showing up in Iowa and officials are hoping it’ll clear up confusion many motorists have with left turns across traffic. The Federal Highway Administration has adopted the flashing yellow arrow as a national standard for “permissive left turn” operations. Cathy Cutler, a transportation planner with the Iowa Department of Transportation, calls it an “enhancement” of the green arrow. “When people are going to make left turns across traffic, they get the green arrow and that means they have the right-of-way to make the left turn. The new addition is what the next phase will be and that’s the flashing yellow arrow. That indicates you can still make a left turn across traffic, but you’re required to yield to any oncoming traffic and any pedestrians,” Cutler says. Following the flashing yellow arrow, the signal will change to a steady yellow arrow indicating the left turn signal is about to turn red. Cutler says a national study determined drivers found flashing yellow left turn arrows more understandable than traditional yield-on-green indications.

“Really, the confusion came for those left turners when there wasn’t a green arrow. They didn’t really know what the green bulb meant. It means you can proceed but you need to yield to oncoming traffic and pedestrians,” Cutler said. “We believe the flashing yellow arrow will help prevent crashes.” Several flashing yellows arrow signals are already in operation around Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Des Moines. More will be installed across the state at busy intersections in the coming months. “The ones that have been up…have been up for a couple months now and we haven’t had any issues or citizen complaints about them,” Cutler said. The flashing yellow arrows are also expected to reduce traffic delays as the new signals provide traffic engineers with more options to handle variable traffic volumes.

(Radio Iowa)